Massachusetts has had laws requiring disclosure of public records since 1851, and the Secretary of the Commonwealth's guide to the law states the governing principle in one line: every government record in Massachusetts is presumed to be public unless it may be withheld under a specifically stated exemption. The statute is chapter 66 of the General Laws, the definition of a public record sits at chapter 4, section 7, clause 26, and the access regulations are at 950 CMR 32. Each agency and municipality designates a records access officer, and that officer is where a request should go.
Massachusetts keeps the mechanics loose. There are no strict rules governing how requests must be made, and they may be made in person or in writing, with written requests submitted in person, by post, by facsimile or by email, the only substantive requirement being that the requester give a reasonable description of the information wanted. A requester is not required to give any reason, and the purpose generally has no bearing on whether a record is public, so all requesters must be treated the same and a requester cannot be made to identify themselves as a condition of access. The limited exception arises where the question is whether records are sought for a commercial purpose or whether to grant a fee waiver. For Massachusetts records held locally, see the Massachusetts county pages.
- Ten business days: records must be produced in that time, or a written response must arrive in that time saying what will happen instead.
- Fifteen or twenty five: where more time is needed, the stated timeframe cannot exceed fifteen business days for an agency or twenty five for a municipality.
- No letter, no fee: a fee cannot be charged at all unless the agency gave the required ten business day response.
- Free hours: state agencies cannot charge for the first four hours of work and larger municipalities for the first two, with a ceiling of $25 an hour.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Massachusetts's own systems: the Secretary of the Commonwealth guide to the Massachusetts public records law, the Public Records Division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Trial Court law library page on freedom of information and public records, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The nine things a response has to contain
Where a records access officer intends to produce records and can do so within ten business days, the duty is simple: permit inspection or furnish copies at reasonable times and without unreasonable delay, no later than ten business days after receiving the request, provided the request reasonably describes the record, the record is within the possession, custody or control of the agency or municipality the officer serves, and any reasonable fee has been paid.
Where the body does not intend to produce records, or cannot produce them in time because of the magnitude or difficulty of the request or because multiple requests from the same requester unduly burden its other responsibilities, it must still send a written response within ten business days, in person, by first class post or by email. That letter must, so far as applicable, confirm receipt; identify any records or categories not within its possession, custody or control; identify the body that may hold them where known; identify what it intends to withhold with the specific reasons and the specific exemptions relied on; identify what it intends to produce together with a detailed statement of why the magnitude or difficulty of the request unduly burdens its other responsibilities; give a reasonable timeframe for production, which cannot exceed fifteen business days from initial receipt for an agency or twenty five business days for a municipality unless the requester voluntarily agrees to longer; suggest a reasonable modification of scope or offer help in narrowing the request where that would allow records to be produced more efficiently and affordably; include an itemised good faith estimate of any fees; and tell the requester about the right of appeal to the supervisor of records and the right to seek judicial review in the superior court. A letter missing those parts is not the response the statute requires.
What a denial must say
A denial has to go further than citing a number. The guide states that a denial must detail the specific basis for withholding the material, must include a citation to one of the statutory or common law exemptions the custodian relies on, and must explain with specificity why that exemption applies. It must also advise the requester of the administrative remedy through the Supervisor of Records and of the judicial remedy in the superior court.
Two limits sit alongside that. The disclosure duty applies only to information in the custody of the body when the request is received, so there is no obligation to create a record or to honour a prospective request for records that do not yet exist, although nothing stops an officer answering one. And the law is explicit that producing a segregable portion of a record is not creating a new record, nor is furnishing an extract of existing data, since that data exists at the time of the request and can be separated from material that is not responsive.
The fee rules, starting with the one that wipes them out
Massachusetts attaches the right to charge to the duty to answer. A fee for a public record may not be charged unless the records access officer responded to the requester within ten business days as the statute requires, which means a late agency has forfeited its costs. Beyond that, a body may charge a reasonable fee to recover the costs of complying, within tight limits. It may not charge for time spent segregating and redacting a record unless that segregation or redaction is required by law or has been approved by the Supervisor of Records on petition, with required by law meaning a statute that explicitly makes certain records or information not public, the examples given being the student record statute, the criminal offender record information act and the laws on the confidentiality of domestic violence records, together with attorney client privilege.
Copies of single or double sided black and white paper copies or printouts cost five cents each, and where material is not susceptible to ordinary reproduction, such as photographs or computer tapes, the actual cost of reproduction may be charged, with some specific statutes setting their own copy fees. State agencies may not charge for the first four hours of time spent searching, compiling, segregating, redacting and reproducing, and may not charge more than $25 an hour at all.
Municipalities with a population over 20,000 may not charge for the first two hours of that work, while those with 20,000 or fewer people may charge from the first hour, and the same $25 hourly ceiling applies unless the Supervisor approves a higher rate on petition, with population taken from the decennial federal census and the burden on the records access officer to supply the population figure when responding.
Appealing to the Supervisor of Records
Where a custodian denies access, or cannot produce records within ten business days, it must still give the statutory written response and must tell the requester about the right of appeal. A requester denied access to any requested information may petition the Supervisor of Records within 90 days of the response, or of the absence of one. The Supervisor, assisted by the Public Records Division, then reviews the written request and the custodian's written response and issues a written ruling, either on the status of the records or on the reasonableness of a fee estimate, which makes the appeal useful for money disputes as well as access disputes.
A requester who is unhappy with the outcome can seek judicial review by bringing a civil action in the superior court. The division also handles petitions from records access officers themselves, which is how an agency obtains approval to charge for segregation time or to exceed the hourly ceiling.
Where to look things up
The Trial Court law libraries maintain a reference page that collects the primary material in one place: the definition of public records at chapter 4, section 7, clause 26, chapter 66 itself, the fair information practices act at chapter 66A, the access regulations at 950 CMR 32 and the related privacy regulations, selected court decisions, the retention rules in chapter 66, section 8 together with the trial court and municipal retention schedules, and guidance on electronic records management and email retention from the Supervisor of Public Records.
It also notes a point that matters when asking police departments for records, that documents in an internal affairs investigation record are different from ordinary evaluation or discipline determinations and are not typically exempt as personnel information. The state runs a central portal for submitting requests to individual organisations, and the Secretary's own division publishes the guide, the sample request letter and the appeal instructions.
Reading a Massachusetts response
Ten business days is the hinge. If the records arrive by then, the matter is closed. If a letter arrives instead, read it against the nine point list, because a response that omits the exemption, the detailed burden statement, the timeframe or the fee estimate is incomplete, and the timeframe itself cannot stretch past fifteen business days for an agency or twenty five for a municipality without the requester agreeing. If nothing arrives at all, the agency has lost the right to charge anything and the ninety day clock to petition the Supervisor has started.
And when a bill does come, three figures are worth checking: five cents a page for ordinary copies, nothing for the first four hours at a state agency or the first two at a larger municipality, and nothing at all for redaction time unless the law required it or the Supervisor approved it.
Questions about public records requests in Massachusetts
Related Massachusetts records
Massachusetts's other public records guides on this site are the Massachusetts background check guide for the state criminal record service, the Massachusetts court records guide for the trial court's public access, the Massachusetts arrest records guide for what a booking makes public, and the Massachusetts county pages for every county office.